Myanmar Report – Losing The Forest For The Trees?

The research behind this report was carried out as part of HERE’s broader study on “The role of ‘mandates’ in humanitarian priority setting for INGOs in situations of armed conflict”. The so-called ‘Mandates Study’ takes a look at organisational decision-making, and how it impacts effective aid delivery on the ground. The term ‘mandate’ is therefore understood broadly as an organisation’s goal or mission and not in its legal meaning. The aim is to clarify what differences there are between organisations in terms of how they set priorities and come to strategic choices, and what the advantages and disadvantages of different ‘mandates’ are.

In order to lay part of the groundwork towards answering the broader questions of the Role of ‘Mandates’ Study, this report delves into some of the elements characterising the humanitarian response in Myanmar, based on the experiences of six of the participating organisations, as well as a range of other stakeholders. As such, it highlights some elements of that context that are of particular interest to the overall research.